GM sees Google as a threat

According to Mark Reuss, product-development chief at General Motors, the technology giant Google Inc. could soon pose a threat to established players after it announced it’s developing its own self-driving cars.

The executive did say that although General Motors is also in full swing at developing its own autonomous vehicles, the automaker is not – at least yet – in a real competition with Google.

“Anybody can do anything with enough time and money,” Reuss said. “If they set their mind to it, I have no doubt” they could turn into “a very serious competitive threat.”

The Mountain View, California-based Google announced that it’s aiming to put on the streets by the year’s end a fleet of more than 100 fully autonomous vehicles – this time developed fully in-house, as opposed to previous practice of putting the tech on regular cars.

While the newly developed prototypes are still a trade secret, Reuss did say he caught a glimpse of Google’s car in a photograph, describing it as “kind of cool” for a little car and hinted it’s close in looks to the old VW Beetle.

GM showcased its own self-driving tech last year, calling it the Super Cruise technology, which is at this stage supporting only semi-automated driving – like lane following, braking and speed control under specific conditions.